Gracie's Hearts
by Spence Sabien
Summary: Grace's maturity lands both Danny and Steve into new and dangerous territory. What's a Father and an adopted Uncle to do? Two-Shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **All rights and characters of Hawaii Five-0 are the property of Leonard Freeman and CBS. I am not profiting in any way by writing this story.

_*Note: This story takes place in the apartment Danny is renting in the season 2 episode Lapa' au. Also, special mention must go out to Hisbabygirl011 for her help in providing this story's cover pic. Thanks so much, Sweetie!_

* * *

**Gracie's Hearts **

His little girl was growing up.

Not a lot, thank you very much Mother Nature, but just a little. She was a little taller. Her arms and legs were a little longer. Her chubby monkey cheeks had become a little thinner. Maybe to other people she was still just a regular little girl, but to Danny, Grace wasn't so little anymore.

Some days, though, Danny was able to fool himself into not noticing. Days like today, for instance. They had spent the afternoon at the beach, and Grace had demanded piggy-back rides and sandcastles and splash fights. She had giggled and squealed and pinched and tickled. Yup, with days like this, it wasn't hard at all for Danny to ignore the maturity.

Grace was still a ball of energy when Danny drove them back to his place. She hopped out of the Camero almost before it had stopped moving and then ran straight up the stairs to Danny's apartment. By the time he had caught up to her she was already in front of the door, wrapped up in her Angry Birds beach towel and wearing an impatient expression.

"Danno! Hurry!" she told him, jiggling the door handle.

Hurry? Danny carried their enormous beach bag, a cooler and Grace's boogie board while trying to juggle two cell phones and his car keys. His damp t-shirt and sand-saturated swimming trunks also didn't help the situation much. "Easy, Monkey, easy. I'm right here."

She surprised him by grabbing the phones and keys out of his hands and then practically mowing down the front door to get inside. Danny stood there for a couple of seconds, bewildered, before Grace came back out and grabbed the hand that held the beach bag. "Come on! We have to get ready!"

"Okay!" Danny allowed her to tug him inside and then he closed the door behind them. "When did you get so impatient, huh? And what's up with all the energy? You're usually wiped out when we get back from the beach."

Grace didn't answer and instead tugged her father down the narrow hall into the tiny living room. Once there, she kicked her flip-flops off next to the cloth-covered couch and dropped the keys and her phone on one of its cushions. Then she handed Danny his phone and said, "You clean up first, okay? You're faster at it."

"What, you don't think salt water and two tons of sand are a good look for me?" He dropped everything he'd been holding and struck a pose.

"Dan_nooooo!"_

"Jeez! Okay, I'm going, I'm going!" He started back down the hall toward the bathroom and then, over his shoulder, added, "Please put the bag and board in the room and grab some clothes. I'll fill up the tub for you when I'm done. Okay?"

"Okay," Grace echoed, immediately bending to retrieve said items and then hurrying down the hall herself.

Danny closed the bathroom door just as she darted to her right and into the bedroom. For a moment, Danny considered opening the door and asking her again what was up. Then he changed his mind and shook his head. Nothing was up. They were going to Ailani's. Grace always got excited about the pizza there. She always got excited about pizza, period. Nothing new there.

The bathroom was a small affair with a low sink and mirror, one cracked cupboard and a toilet perched much too close to the bathtub. But Danny didn't really mind it. He was used to these sorts of accommodations and hey, the water worked and the cupboard shelves held. What more did a guy's bathroom need?

Plus, the place wasn't haunted. Bonus.

The sound of Grace's cell phone pulled Danny from his thoughts and he paused, shirt halfway over his head. That wasn't Miley Cyrus he was hearing.

Grace's footsteps ran back into the living room. After a moment, the song cut off but Danny didn't hear her say hello. What he did hear, however, was the phone ring again moments later and then quickly going silent. Curious, he opened the door and said, "Grace?"

She appeared at the end of the hallway, still wrapped up in her towel. Her backpack and phone were in her hands.

Danny held up two fingers. "Okay, two questions. One, who keeps calling? And two, that's not Miley I was hearing so who did you kidnap and stuff in your bag this time?"

Grace giggled and held up her phone. "It's Taylor Swift, Daddy."

"Oh, Swifty, very cool," Danny replied, nodding. "What's the name of the song?"

Grace's eyes widened but before she could answer, the phone rang for the third time and she hurriedly hit the 'Ignore' button.

Now concerned, Danny laid a hand on the door jamb and said, "Okay, who keeps calling?"

Grace looked down at the discolored linoleum. "Dylan. But I don't want to talk to him."

It was almost comical to Danny how he went from burning rage to instant relief in just a few of Grace's syllables. He then relaxed the death grip he had put on the door jamb and asked, "Why? Not that I'm not happy or anything," he added in a rush, "I mean, I am Daddy here and the whole 'boy' thing is just…well, you know. We've talked about it, right?"

She still refused to raise her head. "Yes".

Hating her discomfort, Danny walked over and knelt in front of her. "Hey you, look at me." He lifted her chin and then smiled when their eyes met. "Listen, if you don't want to talk to or about Dylan that's fine. It's fantastic, actually. So why don't you just put your phone in your bag and finish getting your clothes together while I get to that shower. Then in about ten minutes we'll switch, okay?"

Grace's face brightened. "And then we go out for pizza with Steven."

"You got it, Monkey-face. Now give me a hug, all right?"

She did and then headed for the bedroom, unzipping the front part of her backpack along the way. Danny watched her for a second longer before walking back into the bathroom.

As soon as he closed the door his own cell phone rang. Danny picked it up from the sink, noted the caller and then answered with, "Hey."

_"Hey partner,"_ Steve's voice replied. _"Listen, I have to pick something up real quick but after that I'll be heading over. Just wanted to give you and Gracie the heads-up."_

"Really? Wow, that is…weirdly considerate of you, buddy. Thanks. Are we getting the usual tonight?"

_"Yeah, sure,"_ was Steve's easy reply. _"Double pineapple for me and Gracie and triple for you."_

"Funny," Danny told him as he fished two towels out of the cupboard. "Now please feel free to go to hell. I hear they're selling one-way tickets, cheap."

_"Only if you promise to wear something blue tonight. You know how much I love you in blue, don't you, Danno?"_

"Oh, two for two. Cute. And by the way, you still aren't funny." Danny ended the call and set his phone and the towels in the sink. Then he turned on the shower.

Approximately ten minutes later he emerged sand and salt water-free. He then tied one of the towels around his waist and opened the door. "Grace? It's your turn. Do you want bubbles?"

She came out of the bedroom, arms loaded with clothes and soap and hair accessories. An oversized pink hairbrush was tucked under one of her arms. "No, I want to shower, too. It's faster."

"Faster?" Danny repeated as he stepped aside to let her in. "Man, you really are in a hurry. What, have you been so pizza deprived lately that you're going through withdrawals?"

"What are 'withdrawals'?"

Ack, Danny had forgotten who he was talking to. He rubbed his face. "Nothing, never mind." He then restarted the shower for her and tested the temperature before continuing with, "Okay, hop in. Your towel is in the sink."

"Thank you, Danno."

"You're welcome."

He picked up his phone and headed into the bedroom. It housed the same dull paint on the walls as the living room, and was barely big enough to accommodate his new huge bed and one lone dresser. After a minute, Danny tossed a pair of boxers, some slacks and a white polo shirt next to Grace's bag on the bed and then proceeded to dry himself off.

He was fully dressed and about to step into a pair of sneakers when he heard Taylor Swift's voice. _"The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name. It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change."_

It stopped there and Danny glared at the backpack. Just how many times was Stalker Kid going to call? Hell, how many times had he called _already?_

Danny walked back toward the bed and then stopped to consider. The one time he had dumped Grace's phone he hadn't liked what he'd discovered at all. So what might he possibly find this time around? Fifty missed calls? A hundred?

And what about text messages?

_Oh please,_ Danny prayed. _Please no text messages. I will have to kill this kid if I end up finding something...something…_

That convinced him. Danny picked up the backpack, unzipped the front pocket and shook out the contents.

An array of paints, stickers, and paper hearts landed on the faded green blanket. Danny checked to make sure everything was out before setting the bag back down. Grace's cell wasn't immediately visible among the jumble of objects, so he bent over and began rifling through the pile.

He had just found it when something else caught his eye, and he froze.

One of the paper hearts was made of orange construction paper, decorated with painted pink and purple hearts and stars. But that wasn't what had caught Danny's attention. No, it was the name painted across the bottom of the heart.

Steven McGarrett.

Danny picked it up and discovered another heart below it. This one was made of lined paper with sparkles that consisted of two painted names: Steve McGarrett and-Danny felt his stomach clench-Grace McGarrett_._

The oxygen level in the room seemed to drop, and Danny found himself breathing heavily through his nose. He picked up the second heart and glanced between it and the first. This was why Grace had been so wired_. Not because of the beach or Ailani's pizza, _Danny realized,_ but because of-_

Taylor Swift's voice cut through Danny's thoughts and he nearly dropped the hearts in surprise. _"The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name. It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change. Hey Steven, why are people always leaving? I think you and I should stay the same…"_

The front door opened behind him and three loud knocks filled the air. "Child Protective Services," an all-too familiar voice announced.

Danny tightened his grip on the hearts and slowly turned around. Steve gave him a nod and then closed the door. A large white lily was in his hand.

Before Danny could say anything, the bathroom door opened up and Grace poked her wet head out into the hallway. Then there was a great cry of "Steven!" as she rushed out in jeans, a blue sweater and bare feet.

The grip on the hearts became unforgiving as Danny watched his partner pull her up into a giant bear hug and say, "Hey, sweetheart."

* * *

**To be concluded in Chapter Two**


	2. Chapter 2

Steve couldn't remember ever wanting to have kids.

But having Gracie Williams around wasn't something he was ever going to complain about. Not even now, with her wet hair soaking his black t-shirt and her little arms squeezing the feeling out of his neck. He settled her around his waist and then handed her the lily. "Here you go."

Grace beamed. "Thank you!"

She kissed his cheek and he grinned. Becoming Uncle Steve was definitely the best perk to Danny's partnership.

_Speaking of Danny…_

Steve glanced over at his partner and found him in the same place inside the bedroom. "Hey Danno, you ready to go?"

Danny remained still and silent. Then finally, he raised a hand and started forward. "Put. Her. Down."

The stern, measured tone of his voice confused Steve. "What? Why?"

"Just put her down. Now."

Steve took in Danny's red face and set Grace back on the linoleum. "What is it? What happened?"

To his dismay, Danny ignored both questions in favor of turning his attention to Grace. "Go into the bedroom and put your headphones on."

She blinked. "But Danno-"

"In the room," Danny repeated, stepping aside and pointing. "Headphones. Now."

Grace persisted. "But I don't have my headphones. They got lost while we were at the beach."

Steve heard Danny mutter something unintelligible before replying with, "Okay, then go in there, close the door and sit on the bed. Don't come back out until I say it's okay."

Steve watched Grace walk into the bedroom. Something was definitely up. Danny only excluded Grace from things when said things were serious.

After the door closed, Steve followed Danny into the living room without any prompting. He thought about sitting on the couch but then dismissed the idea when Danny began pacing.

_Pacing. Not good. I'd better stay upright for this._

So he did and crossed his arms over his chest. "All right, now that Gracie is pretty much out of earshot you wanna tell me what's going on?"

Danny didn't respond, but his face seemed to redden further as he moved back and forth. He fidgeted as well, which was sure sign of his turmoil. It made Steve want to repeat the question, but he refrained when a more thorough study of his partner's expression and body language finally made him see the truth.

Hell, he probably should have seen it from the beginning.

Steve let out a huff and then dropped to the couch's middle cushion. "Okay, what do you think I did wrong this time?"

The words made Danny stop and finally look at him. Steve just sat and waited for him to speak, more annoyed and impatient now than anything else.

He was completely unprepared when Danny suddenly threw two colorful objects at him. They bounced off Steve's chest and then landed in his lap. He sputtered an angry "What the _hell_, Danny?" before bringing the objects up for inspection.

Then he felt himself go cold. "No. Oh, no."

Danny finally spoke. His voice was just as cold. "You get it now, right?"

"Yeah." Steve risked a look up at Danny's still-red face. "I've seen tons of these things over the years so yeah, I get it."

_ "Tons_ of these things?" Danny repeated. "Oh, so, you've been sucking in little girls' hearts all your life, is that it?"

"What?" Steve asked, bewildered. "No, that wasn't what I-wait, are you blaming _me_ for this?" He held up the hearts.

"Doesn't everything horrible that happens to me end up being because of you? Why shouldn't the loss of my baby girl's innocence be any different?"

Steve dropped the hearts and bolted up to his feet. "What the hell do you mean the loss of her innocence? You're not seriously suggesting that I would do anything to…to _hurt_ Gracie like that, are you? Because I will literally shove my fist down your throat if you are."

Danny stepped closer to him and pointed a finger. "Did I say that? Did I? No, I didn't. And stop calling her Gracie, okay? It's not allowed. Not anymore. In fact, I don't remember giving you permission to do it in the first place. So just stop it, all right? Stop. It's not good."

Steve gaped at him. He could understand Danny being upset but this? "What is wrong with calling her Gracie? It's just a nickname, Danny. I _do_ nicknames. You know that."

"Exactly, you do nicknames. They're your so-called terms of endearment. But when you call Grace Gracie, how do I know she's not taking it as a _real_ term of endearment? Here's the answer: I don't. So therefore, you are not allowed to call her Gracie."

It was situations like this that made Steve wonder if his partner was insane. Like, _legitimately _insane. Nobody this ridiculous could be functioning correctly. "For God's sake, Danny, it's _just_ a _nickname!_ And for the record, everyone calls her Gracie! Me, Chin, Kono, Kamekona…even _you_ call her Gracie."

"No, no I do not. To me she is Grace, Monkey or any other Daddy-given name. Never Gracie."

"You _have_ called her Gracie!" Steve insisted. "I've heard it."

"Yeah? Okay then Bat Ears, tell me one time I referred to her as Gracie. Just one."

No problem. Steve opened his mouth, paused, closed it, opened it up again…and couldn't think of anything to say. _Come on, McGarrett,_ he told himself._ You know you've heard it. Think!_

His inner-pep talk failed to help and after a few more seconds of silence, Danny smirked at him. "That's what I thought."

Steve refused to let him get away with that. "Just because I can't remember now doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Besides, all girls named Grace automatically get the nickname Gracie. It's not a real term of endearment." He stopped there, decided he sounded too defensive and then continued with, "Okay, look, we're getting way off the subject here. This is about Grace's feelings. So let's just keep focused on that."

Danny picked up the fallen hearts. "Fine, then tell me what you're gonna do about this."

What? Steve pointed to himself. "Me? How am I supposed to know? You're her father, Danny. Just…handle it like a father should."

"Trust me, Steve, you don't want me to handle this like a father should."

The barely controlled menace made Steve roll his eyes. It probably wasn't the best move to make but at this point, Steve was low on give-a-damn. "This really isn't my fault, Danny. You do realize that, don't you? Or is your 'Daddy Mode' overriding your common sense again?"

Danny's gestures became wild. "Oh, you're gonna lecture _me_ about common sense? You, a guy who's own common sense never gets the chance to show itself?"

"We're not talking about me here, Danny, remember? But hey, since we _are_ talking I've got a question: If I cut off your hands, will that finally shut you up for good? Because if so, I can do it and rid the world of your yelling."

"I am not yelling," Danny hissed. "I will not yell. Not when Grace is five feet away without anyone's hands over her ears."

Steve scoffed. "You know that never works, Danny. Besides, isn't Gracie getting too old for that?"

"I do not need to hear that right now."

"All I'm saying is that covering someone's ears doesn't-"

"I'm not talking about ears, jerk! I'm talking about the 'too old' part of your insensitive sentence!"

Silence. Then out of pure exasperation, Steve used both hands to rub his face and sat back down on the couch. After a minute, he muttered, "So much for the 'I will not yell' thing."

Danny didn't reply. Instead, he took a slow breath, planted himself next to Steve and then lowered his head. The sight helped a fresh feeling of sympathy wash over Steve. He knew how difficult it sometimes was for Danny to be a father. And if Steve really thought about it, he would probably be just as heated as Danny if his little girl had a crush on someone.

_Like…my partner._

And just like that, he was on Danny's side again. Steve may have never thought about having kids, but he felt that Gracie Williams was pretty damn close.

Maybe the closest he would ever have.

After a bit, Danny raised his head and said, "I knew that she would get crushes. I've known it all her life. But I always pictured confronting a kid about Grace's feelings first. A _kid_, Steve, like some teenage slacker with lousy grades or a beach bum who thinks catching a wave is magic in the water. Confronting an adult while Grace was still a child never crossed my mind. And having it turn out to be you just makes this worse."

"Okay, I can understand that," Steve allowed. "And if I _did_ do something to encourage Gracie's -I mean, Grace's feelings- I really didn't mean to."

"I know. That's what makes this suck even more."

Before Steve could reply, he heard the bedroom door creak open. He immediately tensed while next to him, Danny mumbled, "Of course, she chooses today of all days not to listen to me."

Steve leaned forward and looked down the hallway. Sure enough, Grace was standing just outside the door. She had pulled her damp hair back into a ponytail. Her face was pink and puffy.

The sight of her unsettled Steve and he snapped back against the couch. "So…what do you want to do?"

Danny rubbed his face a few times before dropping his hands and calling out, "Grace, come here please baby."

She slowly made her way to the living room looking so miserably embarrassed that Steve's heart went out to her. But what could he do? Danny might kill him if he made a wrong move.

_Should I even be looking at her?_ Steve wondered. _Is it sending her the wrong message?_

_Dammit, Danny's got me paranoid!_

Danny held out his arms and helped Grace crawl into his lap. Steve watched and gave his partner a helpless look that Danny ignored. He pulled Grace close to him. The expression on his face became gentle but his words were firm as he told her, "The three of us need to talk about something, Grace. Okay?"

She looked at him and then at Steve before quietly saying, "I wasn't gonna do anything about it."

That surprised Steve, and the widening of Danny's eyes said that it had surprised him, too. Still, Danny asked, "You weren't going to do anything about what?"

Grace held up another origami heart. It was dark blue. "About Steven. I know I'm too little, and I know it's not a good idea. You wouldn't like it, Daddy, and Steven wouldn't either. So I was just going to keep it a secret." She paused. "It would've stayed a secret if you hadn't gone through my bag, Danno."

Steve smiled at both the chagrined look on Danny's face and the man's attempt to defend himself. "Well, see, your phone wouldn't stop ringing so I was just gonna answer and politely tell that Dylan kid to stop calling."

"Politely?" Steve questioned before he could stop himself.

"Shut up," Danny responded before turning his focus back to Grace. "I didn't mean to snoop through your bag. Honest. I just wanted to tell the kid to give it a rest with the calls."

Grace nodded at that, and Steve watched as she turned the blue heart over in her hands a few times. He could tell that she was thinking, but was still a little startled when she suddenly looked at him and said, "I'm really not gonna do anything. You don't have to worry. Nobody has to. And I'm sorry that I got you in trouble with Danno."

Steve let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Somehow, he'd thought that her first words to him would be a lot more stressful. "I'm always in trouble with Danno, Grace. You don't have to apologize."

"Okay," she said. "Can we um, can we still go get pizza?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at Danny who then said, "Are you kidding me? Of course we can. Go put your shoes on."

She gathered up all three hearts, hopped off his lap and ran for the bedroom.

When she was gone, Steve collapsed back against the couch and wasn't too shocked to see Danny do likewise. "That went a lot easier than I thought it would," Steve admitted after a minute.

"It's not over," Danny assured him. "There's a lot more we have to talk about because I'm not at all satisfied with just 'I won't do anything about it'. Crushes don't just disappear, you know. We're gonna have to figure out a way to wean her off of you just like I had to wean her off those damn fish sticks."

"We?"

"That's right, we. It's the least you can do."

Before Steve could answer, Grace ran back in wearing a pair of white tennis shoes. She stood in front of the two men and announced, "I'm ready. Double pineapple for me and Steven and triple for Danno, right?"

Steve saw Danny blanch and knew that it wasn't because of the suggested pizza topping. So he stood up from the couch and said, "One condition. You have to call me Uncle Steve. I like that a lot better than 'Steven'."

Her happy expression faded a little. "Okay…Uncle Steve."

"Thanks Grace. Now let's go get some pizza."

She started for the door. Steve moved to follow her but Danny held him back. "Hey. Thanks. You know, for that."

"No problem, partner. Let's try to wean her off the 'Steven' thing first and then see what happens."

"Sounds good," Danny agreed as they headed after Grace. "Thanks for having my back with this. And…you can still call her Gracie if you want."

Steve stopped again. "Really?"

"Well, she's used to hearing it from you, right? It could help get things back to normal between you two. It's who you are. Uncle Steve and Gracie. Gracie and Uncle Steve."

Steve just looked at him. Then he shook his head and started for the door once again, muttering, "Insane _and_ bi-polar. Fantastic."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"


End file.
